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Topic: My first crottin ladies (Read 1510 times)

Hello! This is my first goat cheese photo.... Pasteurized to 140 x 30 minutes with a cool down to 74' added starter of Ma4002 an a whiff of aroma B and a pinch of geo and pcandidum, 1/4 tsp ca cl, 1/4 tsp veal rennet and waited 18 hours. I had a nice whey on top and separation around. No ph meter yet, direct ladled into my wee crottin molds.

I decided to put them back into molds for another 12 hours. They're still pretty damp, and I sat them in our storeroom that hovers at 60 degrees. I'll check them tonight. How damp before I put them in the cave?

I used this recipe but added just a smidge of Aroma B so we'll see, they are looking so lovely! I'm really happy with the mold growth, I've been rubbing down. I'll be out of town for a week so my spouse will have to flip for me!

okay the outside is pulling away from the inside!!! the flavor is good, very creamy and I tapped them, smoothed them, but I feel a little space between some of the skins and interior. Is this the dreaded slip skin and do I eat them all now?

Looks like a little slipskin. Perhaps in a ripening box that is cooler and more humid. Per the recipe instructions, 45-48 degrees F and 90%RH. Never made crottins, but a search on the forum might be helpful.

They can be eaten at 10 days. Looks like you've already started though, huh?

Now maybe this will get me outlaw status but in my opinion slipskin is not to be dreaded. Sure, it's not what you were aiming for but I've yet to have a slipskin issue that made me enjoy a cheese less. And does anyone examine why we aim for certain things? In fact, when first making Valencay style cheeses (ashed bloomy cheese) I had a skin with some slip and it was thicker than I was aiming for and yet it had a lovely succulent "snap" to it that became a favored aspect of eating that cheese. Yet expert consensus was that the slipskin designated the cheese as somewhat of a failure. (not inedible failure, just not matching desired outcome). Although it'll take courage to buck consensus, what if I aim for that because it's a very enjoyable aspect of that cheese (for all who have tried it who are not under the slipskin judgement spell). These little cheeses were about 1 1/2 " square and inch tall; creamy soft supple paste contained by a satisfyingly succulent rind. So very tasty it was easy to eat multiples in one sitting! Why should we grant to experts that we don't even know, the right to decide what outcome we should be aiming for?

You see, when cheese was first being made there were trends created based on how certain make traditions (rooted in available milk, cultures, storage options and current need) turned out cheeses but there's no one saying you have to stay in that rut and aim at that same outcome, lovely as it is, rather than create your own traditions. Cheese is an art like many other food creation and what makes it a success is that someone likes to eat it. There are pieces of famous artwork in the world that make me cringe but there are other people that swoon over them. So too there are traditional cheeses that make me cringe but they are treasured by others.

It IS a fun journey to love a type of cheese made by someone else and see if we can recreate it in our own kitchens or make rooms but that's only one, and I think the current dominant, way that most see the cheese making opportunity. What if we instead realized that rather than limit our description of success to recreating what has already been made we could instead label as succesful a cheese make that has outcome of delighting those who consume it?

I have a lot to learn before I can successfully recreate exactly what I want but my intention is to not limit myself to what others think is best but to explore for myself. After all, how did all these well known cheeses come to pass? Yup, "mistakes" and experimentation by those willing to think outside the cheese box.

Ah, something to be savored with a glass of wine, crust of bread, and morsel of finely crafted cheese.

Can't decide whether it was closer to Walt Whitman or a beat poet of the 50's. Very lyrical and engaging. Nice.

-Boofer-

I'm glad you're savoring. I had a funny thought later.....you know how fashions go in cycles? Even fashions about body types? For instance, skinny was seen as a sad and unattractive thing earlier in the early and mid 1900's while now it's fashionable to be bone-thin? Well what if cheese fashions went to extremes too and it went from desiring very thin rinds/skins to who can have the thickest rind/skin on their cheese? I imagine special cultures designed to help you create that super thick rubbery rind, tutorials, etc. How funny we humans are with our fads and judgements, eh?

Lovely sentiments here from you all...... I am very proud of my little crottins despite their slippage. They are my first attempt and I have learned so much but wouldn't have a clue without the support on the forum!

Logged

2 cheddars, the jury is not in yet! 2 goudas and a couple of soft cheeses that were just okay. Crottins waiting.Camembert success!

I tasted Joann's crottin and it was DELICIOUS! I am just starting cheese making, and I cannot wait to make a cheese that tastes like this. So far I've made ricotta, mozzarella, chevre, and I currently have feta aging (will put it in the brine tomorrow). So excited to try some of these white mold cheeses.